Wichita State University

Customers are more satisfied with airlines than they've been in 20 years, according to a well-known customer-satisfaction survey that seems to buck other assessments of the industry. Airline passenger satisfaction rose 2.9 percent over last year to the highest level since 1994, according to the American Customer Satisfaction Index, a University of Michigan study of 70,000 consumers' expectations and preferences. The industry scored 71 out of 100, nearing the record high of 72, measured the first year the index began. Airlines are historically one of the lowest-scoring industries tracked by the index. Only Internet service providers, subscription television and health...